All the more.

In the morning the Double Es and I went to Cafe Petisco for a big breakfast, then went for a walk by the river. Lazed around the house, napped, then rolled out to meet the HVS for dinner. Edie is getting bigger. At 7 months, she's more and more interactive with her environment, figuring things out. When our food arrived, Edie (strapped to my chest) reached out and grabbed the plate, raising it in the air at an angle. The food comes tumbling into my lap -- you know it's love when someone dumps a plate of hot food in your lap and you love them all the more.

BREAKFAST: 11am, blueberry pancakes, bacon, homefries, water, a slightly stale chocolate chip cookie, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, large green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

SNICKLEDINNER: 6:45pm, fruity cocktail, sticky crispy noodles, grilled tofu with satay sauce, sesame seed pancake, garlic shrimp with sticky rice, a few bites of vegan cupcakes, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 11:30pm, chocolate hazelnut spread with whole grain crackers, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Sprain

Went out to Veg Dim Sum with K, and on the way home stepped on some uneven pavement and sprained my left ankle. Edles was in a the carriage so I didn't fall and Edie didn't even notice, but it was bad enough that I skipped out of a play date in the afternoon and a dinner out with E later in the evening. Wanted pizza, but didn't want the hassle of making a phone call and answering the door, so I zapped some homemade mac n' cheese that I made weeks ago. Frozen is definitely not as good as fresh, but still way superior to the yellow stuff out of a box.

B has been eating up all the granola, and giving away a bunch. Must make another batch soon, as I would like to have some for breakfast!

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, toasted pumpernickel bagel with homemade babaganoush and sable, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: noon, vegetarian dim sum, tea, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER pt 1: 5pm, large green salad, pickle, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER pt 2: 7:30pm, mac & cheese, whole grain crackers with chocolate hazelnut spread, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Granola

Off to go food shopping with Edie strapped on, stopped in the local diner. Woke up feeling tired, stomach was a bit tight, thought I needed a belly bomb to get going. I was right! After a moderately greasy meal (chased by a fresh gourmet donut from down the street), felt much better.

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, BLT on bagel, homefries, lemon donut, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:45pm, homemade granola, homemade kasha varniskas, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Wasn't planning to have granola for lunch, but when it came out of the oven, it was just too groovy to pass up. I followed the general outline of the recipe the HVS forwarded to me, but gave it my own funk:

3 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups cashews
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup agave
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup evoo
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1 cup chopped dried apple
1 cup dried cherries

Surprisingly good, better than the expensive granola I buy at the farmer's market. I called that the "good granola", I shall call the homemade stuff the "best granola". Just a nice level of sweet/salty/savory, with the cardamon and cinnamon duality rubbing up nice against the vanilla and the earthy tones of the sweeteners.

SNICKLESNACK: 7:30pm, bowl of dahl, vegan brownie, vegan lemon cookie, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Went to yoga with the HVS, first time in almost 2/3 of a year.

Tired

Spent most of the day at the restaurant, skipped food shopping and walked home over the Manhattan Bridge. Feeling a bit tired.

BREAKFAST: 8:45am, white toast with babaganoush, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:30pm, half a pizza, a piece of calzone, a small piece of cheesecake, Manhattan Special, equivalent of half a glass of wine, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Well, the challenge definitely got violated on this one, but it would of been extremely rude to not eat from a professional sense. Between tasting some new menu stuff, a wine tasting and a storied piece of cake, I ate a lot more than I planned to.

DINNER: 7pm, basil fried rice, fried shrimps, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Felt run down. Ordered in with B before hitting the pillows around 9.

Lunkfast

LUNKFAST: 11:30am, sausage with homemade kasha varnishkas, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Had weird dreams, woke up with a tight stomach. After getting the laundry out, started feeding Edie, which made my appetite come alive. Had a couple of large sausages in the fridge that was given to me as a gift. One was some sort of cheese-stuffed thing, other was a dry "bahnmi" sausage. The first was kinda gross, oozing cheese, the second was good but a little bit too salty. Had about half of each.

PM SNACK: 2pm, chocolate chip cookie brittle, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
This was from the leader of the playdate drop-in, she makes homemade baked goods, so I'm gonna say this does not violate the challenge this week...

PM SNACK: 4:15pm, babaganoush on white toast, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER PT 1: 5:15pm, zucchini pancake, mint chocolate chip ice cream, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Used rice flour, fried it in caste iron, forgot to use an egg. Came out gloopy and not as good as when the HVS was here.

DINNER PT 2: 8:45pm, cheese ravioli with homemade sauce, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Pie?

Today was the first day of the no-non-homemade-junkfood challenge. I almost forgot -- as B & I wandered through Brooklyn, she stopped to get a cup of coffee at a cafe and I asked her to get me something sweet, but then I took it back. Then again, waking up and finishing the day with a luxurious almond-chocolate tart is not too much of a struggle, he he.

I have mint chocolate chip ice cream and another 12-inch tart on hand, but I need something else to break up the monotony. Gotta make something fun to get me through the whole week. What shall it be? Unmagical brownies? C-chip cookies? Maybe I should review my c-school notes, replicate something challenging. Edie Bird Pie!

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, chocolate tart, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 1:15pm, crappy pizza, diet coke, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, large green salad, 2 small slices of leftover Chicago-style pizza, chocolate tart, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

They call this pizza?

Made sauce the other day, bought all the ingredients. Today time was spent making Chicago-style pizza dough, which involves corn meal and a lot of butter. Between rises, the dough was rolled out, spread with a layer of soft butter, then rolled up and rolled out -- laminated like a croissant.

While that was in progress, I finished baking the two large tart shells to accept the large amount of chocolate pastry cream I had laying around. Just to kick it up a notch, I melted a dark chocolate bar with a little butter, then poured that into the shells to set before spreading in the cream, just to give it another layer of texture.

The actual dessert served was chocolate "ravioli" with cherry "marinara" and powdered sugar "cheese". It was good, but way too much work.



BREAKFAST: 9:45am, good yogurt with honey, homemade vanilla extract and cashews, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACKING: 12-4pm, snippets of moz, sausage, onion & olives, a few prosciutto canapes, water, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Oddly enough, I spent so much mental energy prepping dinner that I forgot to eat lunch. Got hungry around the time guests were supposed to show up.

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, large wedge of chocolate tart, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Waiting for guests to arrive.

DINNER: 5:45pm, several slices of Chicago-style pizza, several ham & pickle canapes, chocolate raviolis, a few mini canolis, 2 glasses of wine, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Edie really enjoyed the party, interacting with several people at once, hangin' like one of the fellahs.